Posted on 04/18/2007 5:35:28 PM PDT by jdm
Apr 18, 2007 — "Ismail-Ax." These two words were scribbled in red ink on the arm of Seung-hui Cho, the 23-year-old Virginia Tech student who killed 32 others and then himself in a bloody rampage Monday.Cho was an English major and poet whose writings had raised eyebrows in the past. But what could "Ismail-Ax" mean? Is the phrase spiritual, poetic or just a bizarre expression of a troubled student?
Watch the full story on "Nightline" tonight at 11:35 p.m. EDT
One "Nightline" viewer recognized "Ismail-Ax" from a poem he had read by Drum Hadley, the 1960s beat poet. The poem is called the "The Goat Ranchers" and in it Hadley, under the pseudonym Yonder Ridgeline, writes about "Ishmael's Ax."
Here's the excerpt:
Went where they'd herded goats when they were kids,
Went where they were lovers,
Went where they were married here, those fifty years ago.
Traces of Ishmael's ax on the scarred trunks of the cedar trees,
Crossing the canyons and winding arroyos.Do you know the meaning behind "Ismail-Ax?" Let us know on the "Nightline" message board.
While some may see a parallel, this poem does not have a disastrous ending like the tragedy in Virginia. Hadley writes of a couple, married 50 years, reflecting on their time together.
Others recognize the name Ismail for its religious significance . A similar name, Ishmael, is widely known as the name of the eldest son of Abraham, father of the Israelites. He appears in the Christian, Muslim and Islamic faiths, and his character is both revered and criticized throughout all three religions.
According to Strong's Dictionary, the name "Ishmael" literally translates as "God will hear."
With the origin of "Ismail-Ax" still unknown, the Internet has erupted with people trying to decipher its true meaning. Perhaps they hope that unlocking the secret behind "Ismail-Ax" will explain how a troubled kid could commit an act so terrible.
FYI, ABC News is still very much interested in the “Ismail Ax” hypothesis.
*giggle*
I'm confused.
Muslim AND islamic. LOL
So now "muslim" and "islamic" are two different things? I *think* he meant to say Jewish but with reporters these days...
So ABC is going to ignore the spelling difference and the meaning there of: Ismail/Ishmael
“Others recognize the name Ismail for its religious significance . A similar name, Ishmael, is widely known as the name of the eldest son of Abraham, father of the Israelites.”
It’s the same name, different language.
“He appears in the Christian, Muslim and Islamic faiths,”
Well, it’s ABC after all.
I’m as intrigued about this as anyone, but doesn’t it seem kind of unseemly to present a special about this?
Ratings from massacre.
I don’t believe they want the hypothesis offered by the lovely Debbie Schlussel. She quotes a New York paper saying Ismail’s axe may refer to an obscure part of the Qu’ran where Abraham takes an ax and chops down all the idols except the one of his (illegitimate) son, Ishmail.
I wonder if he was in contact with any jihadist influences? With a name such as that it sure sounds that way.
I sent you a pm...what is the return address cho used? it isnt the dorm address.
Wow. Kind of a double whammy.
I read it as “is mail a ten”, the answer is no.
Maybe the guy had been reading up on his possible mental illness diagnosis.
Professor Ismail AK,M.D. Head, Department of Psychiatry, KTU School of Medicine, Trabzon, Turkey
Ismail AK is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Head, Department of Psychiatry, KTU School of Medicine, Trabzon, Turkey
He is an experienced on clinical psychopharmacology of schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.
He wrote his name as “A. Ismail” on the package he mailed NBC.
I can’t make it out.
It’s 88 something.
Like 88 Revol Dr, Blacksburg, VA 24*60 (I can’t make out the third number).
ahmadinejad’s always talking about the return of the 12th,
or hidden or expected imam, that will return as the mahdi.
NBC had a news “exclusive” they held until their evening broadcast.
They all want a “scoop” and are playing this for ratings. Wonder if any of them will sit on a bombshell until May sweeps.
One is the religion and one is the political system of government. < /s >
This is really ugly. Not to mention fodder for another nutjob.
Yep. So are some on FR.
Congressman Billybob
They're officially retarded.
Or they're trying to blame the Joos.
The Israelite line went down through Isaac. Ishmael's descendants were promised to be trouble. Ismail is the Arabic spelling.
My head hurts.
Three Christians got their heads cut off in that country. The perps got 20 years, but it's still a light sentence for such a barbarity.
Yours is the most rational explanation. I’d suspect Cho read some of Doc. Ak’s books, and “sent him a message” ~
I thought it was wrong in that regard.
I received an e-mail from the photographer. This person is not the VTech shooter.
Let’s ask Fermat. It’s a joke. He just did it to make us think it actually meant something so he could mess with our minds for ages.
What did ismail ax?
I’m with you PA Mom. The release of this video should have
waited for a month or more.
Come Monday morning, one of the networks might receive
a video of a person getting decapitated just because their
spouse wanted to make the nightly news cast....JJ61
Ishmael was Abraham's son by a concubine; Isaac was his son by his wife Sarah. KEY POINT: God's covenant was made with Abraham and extended through Isaac, not Ishmael.
MM
Or I could do a Simon Cowell: “how a troubled kid could commit an act so terrible.” What an utterly puerile piece of analysis. How about a little sympathy for the 32 people murdered by this piece of human excrement?
It struck me as backwards, but I wasn’t sure of myself.
Or as Al Sharpton would say: What did Ishmael Aks?
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The story of Abraham destroying the idols in his father’s shop does not appear anywhere in the Old Testament. It is part of the Midrash (Jewish traditional lore). The version that I am familiar with, Abraham used a club, not an axe.
A little confusing. Through Abraham's son Isaac came Jacob (Israel) from whence the Israelites obtain their name. Decendents of Ismael, the Ismaelites, are the Arabs.
Prayers for all those killed in this tragic massacre, including thier families.
I know, it looks nothing like him (other than they both are male Asians). It is interesting to see how people are combing the web looking for the meaning. I suspect there is an explanation in the stuff NBC received.
“Others recognize the name Ismail for its religious significance . A similar name, Ishmael, is widely known as the name of the eldest son of Abraham, father of the
Israelites.”
Interesting, isn’t the the twisting they put the logic through to avoid saying Ismail was traditionally the father of the Moslems by leaving the false impression Ismail was the father of the Jews. The father of the Jews was Abraham’s second son, Isaac.
“The angel of the LORD said to her further, “Behold, you are with child, and you will bear a son; and you shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has given heed to your affliction.”
“He will be a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; and he will live to the east of all his brothers.”
LOL!
He seems to have been fixated by religious icons and biblical testimony and stories.
Most likely he mixed much of it together to form distorted and warped and wrong ideas to support his violent nature.
I wish I understood why nuts like him are often drawn to religion (?) and believe God is commanding them to commit violence, etc.
The crew on Brit’s show tonight were quick to cut Charles Krauthammer off tonight when he pointed out the similarity of the killer’s video to the videos that the jihadis always film to be played after they blow themselves up. And his disparaging remarks about Christianity certainly would fit the scenario of jihadi influence.
That's what I've thought. Folks have been trying to connect this with terrorism. I've thought from the beginning it's just a case of a sad, angry young man who wanted to hurt others as much as he felt hurt.
shh, don’t tell anyone. Hubby’s getting annoying . . .
Ismail is the transliteration of the Arabic or Muslim version of the name. Ibrahim is the Arabic version of Abraham.
There still is some question whether Ismail was a Muslim convert or not, but it is the likeliest explanation for his putting it on his arm.
Apparently he wrote it at least three times, on his arm, in his suicide note, and on the return address of his package to MSNBC.
Even if he was not Muslim, it would appear that took an interest in the Muslim version of the story of Ismail. In that version, Ibrahim and Ismail use axes to destroy the pagan temples, before they build the Kaaba. This is interpreted by Muslims as an early form of Jihad, destroying idolatry and prostitution before setting up the Temple of Allah.
In the Muslim version Ismail is the chosen son, not the outcast. Allah tells Ibrahim to sacrifice Ismail, not Isaac. Ismail is a key prophet, the chosen son, who is the progenitor of the Arabic race.
As the chosen son and as the destroyer of idolatry, it is a much more likely symbol to be on a killer’s arm than the name of an obscure Turkish psychiatrist. Why would a killer put a psychiatrist’s name on his arm, when he could identify with a prophet, a jihadist, a destroyer of idols and prostitutes?
The return address on the package he sent to NBC was from A. Ishmael, not Ismail. Maybe the writing on his arm was smeared, but this is written by him and is clearly this spelling.
The cite from the poem does not appear to have much in common with what he did. His hope for what would have been if he had managed to get in a relatinoship with that girl? Maybe he cribbed it for a lecture?
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